Selected quad for the lemma: land_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
land_n	egypt_n	joseph_n	pharaoh_n	4,186	5	10.7503	5	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A00414	A methode vnto mortification: called heretofore, the contempt of the world, and the vanitie thereof Written at the first in the Spanish, afterward translated into the Italian, English, and Latine tongues: now last of all perused at the request of some of his godly friends, and as may bee most for the benefite of this Church, reformed and published by Thomas Rogers. Allowed by authoritie.; Vanidad del mundo. English	Estella, Diego de, 1524-1578.; Rogers, Thomas, d. 1616.	1608 (1608)	STC 10543; ESTC S114515	174,792	500

them banners of peace when they intende nothing but warre that the more easily they may beguile their enimies and bring them into bondage The Diuell also doth spread-foorth the banners of such virtues as Christians haue in greatest estimation that hee may bee taken for a friende and so bring them the more easily vnder his subiection By this showe and face of virtue many bee deceaued and ca●ried away Satan himselfe is tranformed into an Angell of light and doth change his habite as did the wife of Ieroboam who thought to deceaue Ahiiah the Prophet by disguising her selfe Be not carred away with euery blast of winde but try the spirites whether they are of God Diuerse and sundrie be the deuises of Satan to beguile thee when thou thinkest he will strike thee on the one side hee will thwacke thee on the other and when h●e seemeth to flie hee will suddenly make a fresh assault If any tentation haue lefte thee imagine not now thou art safe for euen then is the diuell minded more egerly to set vpon thee And therefore thou hadst neede to bee more vigilant in the time of peace than of warre Into more daunger many times doth a shippe runne in the time of a calme than in a storme for in the calme the sailers goe without care and feare no daunger but in a tempest they haue remedies for the same It is a great tentation to bee without tentation When the meate entereth into the stomack the naturall heate beginneth as it were to make warre with the meate vntill that the substance thereof be altered and changed and if when it is digested there bee not a fresh supply made of more sustenance for to make a newe combat then doeth the stomacke make warre with it selfe and without some other matter bee ministred it consumeth it selfe and killeth thee So if without thou haue not yet with in looke for tentations Greeue not thy selfe that thou art tempted for God will not faile to assist thee if thou faile not of thy duety towarde him If outwarde tentations doe cease yet inward affections will chalenge thee into the fielde and wage cruell warre against thee In the meane while know that God suffereth thee to bee tempted for thy great benefite and behoofe It is needefull that tentations doe come The Apostle saith All that will liue godly in Christ Iesus shal suffer persecution And No man is crowned except he striue as hee ought to doe Now what manner of conflict can there be where there is none aduersary to resist Nay there can be no glorie but where there is victorie neither can there bee a victorie but after a battell CHAP. 35 The tentations which God sendeth making for the benefit of Christians BLessed is the man that endureth tentation for when he is tried hee shall receiue the crowne of life which the Lord hath promised to them that loue him saith S. Iames The time of tentation is but short but the rewarde of victorie is euerlasting God hee loueth thee more a great deale than thou louest thy selfe What soeuer hee suffereth to come vnto thee it is for thy great benefite and aduantage Tentation it commeth by the permission of God Satan hee tempted Iob but yet through God his sufferance so the euill spirite of God came vpon Saul The Diuell naturally tempteth to hurt vs but he can doe no more than God will and than we can beare And seeing God doeth suffer thee to be tempted for thine owne commoditie it is thy parte through his grace and fauour to reape the frute of the same Neuer would the Marener betake him to the dangerous sea did he not look for commoditie by so doing neither would the husband-man endure the parching heate of sommer and the byting colde in winter but that he hopeth for gaine and profite by his paines Be it that to resist tentations it bee laboursome yet hope of rewarde bringeth courage and by the grace of God thou shalt ouercome In euery tentation of ours God he seeketh our amendment and profite God if it had beene his pleasure could with a floud suddenly haue drowned and ouerflowed the world but because he sought more the reformation than the destruction of man hee first admonished them by Noah to repent and that an hundred yeeres afore he drowned them When God had in purpose to send a famine into the lande of Egypt he suffered both Pharao to dreame and Ioseph to expound the same whereby not onely the people were prouided for but Ioseph was aduanced next vnto the king This doubtlesse God would not haue done if he had minded that they should haue perished for want of releefe So the all-mercifull God as delighting in the life and not in the death of sinners before he would punish did first a ●mo●●th the Niniuites by his prophet Ionah Receiue therefore chastisement at the hande of God as from a most louing Father for therein assure thy selfe he seeketh nothing but thy profite and welfare Perswade thy selfe if tentations were not for the good of thy soule God would neuer permit thee to bee tempted at all But God dealeth liberally with thee giuing many meanes to saue thee by For thy part put to thine whole strength● that by his goodnesse thou mayest ouercome and obtaine the ende of happinesse which thou doest desire Labour thou to ouercome For the paines are but momentanie but thy reward shall be euerlasting The king that hath in minde to aduance some speciall man aboue all his fellows will place him first in some seruice of perill and importance to the end that after his returne his fame may be the greater and his rewarde the more ample Susanna had neuer beene so spoken of and praised had not her chaste minde beene assaulted by those two ancients that haunted her father Ioacims house But she ouercame the tentation and so purchased a good name among men and hath eternall glorie with God insomuch that infinitely more good than hurt came to her by that tentation In like sort Tobit was tried by the permission of GOD that all posterities should haue his name in remembrance and his patience for an example CHAP. 36. The remedie to escape tentation is godly and zelous prayer vnto God WAtch yee and pray that yee enter not into tentatition saith the Lord Let prayer bee a speciall buckler of defence vnto thee against tentation otherwise looke not to ouercome If thou repose confidence in thine owne strength thou shalt be subdued Harken what the Apostle saith I am able to doe all things through the help of Christ which strengtheneth me God therefore is to bee praied vnto that he would strengthen vs in al temtatiōs seing al our sufficiency is of God Prayer is a messenger as it were which openeth our neede vnto God according to that of the Prophet Let my prayer enter into thy presence A good messenger ought to

thou be exercised and hewen thou canst not serue for any vse in the spirituall building Persecutors bee the rough masons Hee therefore that flyeth persecution refuseth to be of Ierusalem that is abou● Better was Dauid than Salomon inasmuch that certaine it is the father was saued whereas the safetie of the sonne commeth into question The whole life of Dauid was full of tribulation and teares but Salomon contrariwise liued altogether in prosperity and peace by tribulation K. Dauid entered into heauen and by the prosperity of Salomon whether hee bee saued or no many are in doubt Much good commeth to the soule by aduersity Whereas prosperity quencheth the good spirit aduersity enlighteneth the vnderstanding of the minde While Ioseph shewed much honour to his brethren they knew him not but hauing once made them sad they knew him Therefore doth God send thee tribulation euen that thou shouldest know him for when he doth good to thee thou soone forgettest him Because thou sleepest securely as vnmindfull at all of God therefore his maiestie dooth depriue thee of thy delights wherein like a beast thou diddest tosse thy selfe and tumble to th' end thou mightest awake and confesse thy God Grieue not thy selfe when God doth bereaue thee of worldly comfort for he alwaies doeth it for thy profit So dealt Dauid with Saul whē he tooke from him being a sleepe his speare and pot of water not for his hurt but for his good as it appeareth not onely by his owne wordes but also by Saul his humble confessing his offence By afflictions if thou be the child of God assure thy selfe that thou shalt recouer the inward sight of thy soule euen as Tobias did the outward sight of the body by the gale of the fish At the baiting of a Bull if a man perceaue that hee may fall into any danger thereby he wil carefully giue place that the hornes of the Bull goare him not at all In like sort therfore doth God suffer thee to be in peril somtime to the end thou shouldest see vnto thy selfe by flying vnto the Lord for refuge with vnfeined repentance Euen as prosperitie turneth the minde of man from God so aduersitie draweth man vnto God In my trouble did I call vpon the Lord saith Dauid The more the waters of the ●loude did encrease the more was the Ar●ke of Noah lifted vp the more the people of Israel were vexed in AEgypt the more they multiplyed and grew the more we are afflicted the more both we for our partes doe thinke vpon God and God for his part doth encrease his blessinges vpon vs. Like well therefore of tribulation for it openeth a way for thee vnto heauen The first thing that God wrought in the conuersion of S. Paul was that he flang him vpon the ground leting vs thereby to know that the first entrance into the seruice of God is tribulation As in the barne the chaffe and the corne are mingled together so in this world the bad the good they liue one with another but when the winde of tribulation beginneth once to blow the wicked are throwne downe to the grounde for very anguish of heart but the vertuous they are more strongly vnited both to Christ and themselus That which is il to the wicked is good for the godly The blacke pitch becōmeth white through beating and if the good men haue gotten any spots of sinne by prosperitie affliction doth wash and wipe it cleane away Gods chastisement in this life is a fatherly correction for God hee punisheth alwaies with great fauour but the chastisement in the life to come it shal bee with indignation and furie without al pitie and mercy according to the saying of the Prophet Thou shalt crush them with a septer of yron and breake them in peeces like a potters vessell Choose therefore rather in this worlde to be troubled that so by afflictions which are but smal and momentanie in respect thou maiest attaine the kingdome of God which is eternall CHAP. 32 It is a vaine thing to be careful for the thinges of this worlde BE not careful for your safe what ye shal eate or what ye shall drinke nor yet for your body what ye shall put on saith the Lord For the care of these thinges wil suffer thee to haue small care of thinges eternall God he made man to the end hee should know and by knowing shold loue and by louing shoul● enioy the soueraigne felicitie from the enioying whereof the immoderate care of thinges temperall doeth detaine vs backe Had the people of Israel been carefull about meate drinke and apparel in the wildernesse they had neuer doubtlesse set foote in the lande of promise Circumcise therefore from thine heart all superfluous cares of transitory thinges if thou minde to haue enterance into the lande of promise And of those Hebrewes which left Egypt many died in the wildernesse and could not bee suffered to goe into that fruitfull lande so often promised and that because they fell a lusting after the fleshe pots of Egypt Set not thine heart vpon the good thinges of this life hut let thy desire be vpon heauenly matters couet not immoderately these visible thinges vnlesse thou passe not for loosing the good thinges which are inuisible To manie too too carefull about their owne but carelesse altogether about the matters of God the Lord himselfe doth saie Because of mine house that is waste and ye runne euery man vnto his owne house Therefore the heauen ouer you stated it self from dew and the earth staieth her fruit It is meete that they feele the smart of povertie which prefer the matters of this worlde before the maker of all thinges The Lorde compareth the life of the righteous vnto birds not onely in respect of the little rest and stare which they haue vpon the earth but also for that commonly they abide in the higher places whence it was as not vnprobably wee maye gather that Christ when hee found fa●lt with immoderate carefulnesse he said Behold the soules of the heauen for they sow not nether reape nor carie into the barnes yet your heauenly Father seedeth them Blush therfore and be thou ashamed that so thou abusest thy desires by cleauing vnto the filthie dung of the world when thou maiest be refreshed with the odoriferous flowers of the celestiall paradise O prodigeous cruelty to consume thy selfe in trauelling about to gette and gaine in this worlde when with as little yea lesse paine thou mayest come vnto the riches of heauen And this thou shouldest doe at the least for thy fathers sake which is in heauen For the diligence and carefulnes of the child is a blaming though secretly the Father of negligence For if the childe bee not sufficientlie prouided for of necessary thinges it followeth that the Father hath not performed the duety which a father is bound vnto ●ee not therefore so carefull to get temporall good vnles thou wouldest

thou shalt neuer tast death If thou art in loue with this life open to so many troubles me thinkes thou shouldest much more desire that life where all manner of rest and felicitie is in most abundant wise In this world thou art a pilgrime therfore labour with might main to come vnto the possession of the celestiall countrie All thinges that are seene in this world they fade away like the shadow A foolish part then thou shalt play if rather thou haddest to perish with the transitorie worlde than to flourish for euermore with ioy in the world to come The paine which thou takest here to defer death and to prolong this life of thine thou mayest doe well to bestow though it were to the losse of this present life for the attainement of that happy life in the other world CHAP. 15 The disquietnes which the men of this worlde doe feele it is great and wonderfull BEcause your fathers haue forsaken mee sayeth the Lord c ye shall serue ether Gods day and night He that serueth the worlde he goeth continually with a troubled minde is like the wheele of a clocke which neuer standeth quiet being distracted with continuall cares and anguish of the heart The worlde will neuer suffer thee to be quiet a whit if thou followe thine appetite being depressed with the waight of worldly loue depending on thine owne will This it is which turneth those wheeles this is it which doth vexe thee inwardly so much this is it which taketh all sleepe from thine eyes and causeth thee to turne still in a perpetual motion For what is more troublesome than for a man to be subiect to his owne affections Who can promise himselfe any rest at all in the affaires of this world which are so s●biect ●o continual alteration Great st●●●e was there betweene the heardmen of Lot and the heardmen of Abraham which debate arose through the riches which they had it was so greate that they coulde not dwell together One of the great plagues wherewith Egypt was afflicted was the litle busie flies whose properties are and of God which willingly refused the land of promise for the liking they tooke of Gilead because it was an apt place for cattel Last of all nener thinke to finde quietnesse in that place where all thinges are full of confusion and alteration The worldly men themselues they rest all amazed and know not what they doe nor whether they intend to go no more then did the builders of the tower of Babell CHAP. 16. There is more sorrow than comfort in the pleasures of this world HE will not suffer mee to take my breath but filleth me with bitternes saieth Iob You cannot in the worlde haue any perfect ioy and comfort where all things be replenished with bitternes and sorrow Marke I pray you vnder the goodly showe of sweetenesse what gall of pleasure what paine doeth lurke Consider the paine and vexation that doth accompanie sinne Vices do adorne and set out themselues after the brauest manner being in deede most filthie but vertue though ragged and torne is maruelous louely Let not the pleasures of this world deceaue thee seeing within they are so full of gal and bitternesse In that great glorie of his transfiguration Christ he spake of his death and passion whereby thou maiest obserue that euen the chiefest comfort of this worlde hath some affliction If the world being al full of bitternesse be yet so loued and made of how woulde men esteeme of the same were it all sweete and voide ●f troubles But God he hath so tempered sorrowe with pleasure of the worlde to the end that man with all possible speed might aspire vnto the ioies of heauen Haman that so hunted after the glorie of this worlde he was ioyfull and had a merrie heart because hee was inuited vnto the banquet which Ester had prepared for the king MIne heart panteth my strength faileth me the light of mine eyes euen they are not mine owne saith the Prophet of himselfe Surely I may say thou art blinde if thou seest not the miseries that thou art in which seruest the worlde As the Hauke could neuer be kept quiet vpon the pearch except his eyes were couered with an hoode so thou couldest neuer endure the miserable bondage of the world except thine eyes were blinded that thou couldest not see How were it possible that thine heart should bee so fixed vpon earthly thinges but that thou seest not the vanity of them But for that thou art blinde thou art a bond man open thine eyes therefore I pray thee that thou maiest perceiue the miserable condition which thou doest endure The dung of the sparowes which fell vpon the eyes of Tobit as he was a sleep bereft him of his eye sight The Apostle doth iudge all things of the world to bee but dung and experience teacheth vs that they haue the quality to make men blind as had the dung of Tobits Sparrowes The property of the swallow is to sing sweetly in the beginning of sommer but suddenly afterwarde shee becommeth both blind mute The propertie of the worlde also is first with a short and sweet harmony to bring men a sleepe and after to make them blind that they may not see the vanities of the same Men of this world they lacke eyes to see the light of God and of those good thinges which they forgoe They are like vnto Eli the Priest whose eyes were so dimme that hee could not see the Lampe of God which hung continually burning in the Temple And though worldly men doe seeme wise and of sound iudgement yet is it not so in truth but towardes worldly matters otherwise as touching things of the spirite they haue no sight at all but are as blinde as Moles Fall not from sinne vnto sinne as a blinde man The Prophet Zephaniah speaking of worldly men doeth say They shall walke like blind men because they haue sinned against the Lord And our Sauiour Christ walk while ye haue light least the darkenesse come vpon you For when sinners doe walke in the darkenes of their ignorance what maruell though miserablie they stumble and take a fall The eyes of worldly men they are taken easily with certaine imaginarie profites and affections of their own toward the world and they are made blinde therewith euen as the Egyptians vpon whome God brought such a darkenes that no man saw another neither rose vp from the place where he was for three dayes together If thou couldest haue a sight of the miseries thou artin questionles thou couldest not stand still so securely after that Egyptian manner as thou doest But blindnesse hath ouertaken thee blinded thou art with the loue of this glittering vaine● glorious world like the Beare which becōmeth blind if it behold the brightnes of a burning bason Had not the world beene blind S. Iohn had not said The world

harmes done vnto man doe easily receaue satisfaction but the hurt receiued by the tongue can neuer or very hardly bee recompensed That which is taken away by theft from any man may soone bee restored him againe but not so of a mans good name impaired by an euill tongue for although that the defamer doe vnsay that againe which he did slaunderously report before yet is the nature of man so much the more inclined to heare euill than good that the first euill conceiued opinion will not bee so rooted out of the mind but that there will somewhat thereof remaine behind still One of the plagues of Egypt was the plague of Frogges and one of the plagues of the world is the plague of murmurers they sit like frogges all day in the mire and vncleannesse of their owne sinnes and neuer say word of any mans virtue nor speake any whit at all of their neighbours good deedes but in the night when it waxeth darke they make a loud and an euill noise and doe publish all that they can their neighbours faltes and defects The Psalmist doth say They haue sharpened their tongues like a serpent adders poyson is vnder their lippes As the serpentes do feede of earth so the murmurers doe feede of the infamie of their neighbour The Prophet Dauid moueth this question Lord who shall dwell in thy Tabernacle who shall rest in thine holy mountaine Immediatly he answereth He that walketh vprightly and worketh righteousnes and speaketh the truth in his heart He that slaundereth not with his tongue nor doth euill to his neighbour nor receiueth a false reporte against his neighbour God hee made not thy tongue of bone nor of any other harde substance but of tender flesh which may put thee in mind that thy words should be gentle and soft and not rough nor sharpe The murmurers were so hated of the Lord that hee said Certainely they shall not see the land whereof I sware vnto their fathers neither shall any that prouoke me see it and yee shall not doubtlesse come into the land for the which I lifted vp mine hand to make you dwell therein saue Caleb the sonne of Iephunneh and Ioshua the son of Nun And so of sixe hundred thousand men of foote which came out of Egypt onely two persons entered into the land of promise if not into the earthly than how into the promised land of heauen CHAP. 23 The seruant of God must not curiously prie into the dealings of other men WE heard that there are some which walke among you inordinately and worke not at all but are busie bodies saith the Apostle If thou hast any desire to profite in the seruice of God take thou diligent heede that thou make not too earnest inquirie after the dooings of other men And if thou wouldest lead a quiet life be not too inquisitiue what other men doe He that medleth and is busie in other mens matters is euill thought of and hated of all men for his labor yea euen of his very friendes Hence commeth murmuring and hence springeth pride thorough the contempt of others and lacke of knowledge of our selues The riuer that ouerfloweth his accustomed boundes it washeth the bankes that it beateth against whereby the bankes are made the more cleane and the water that washeth them becommeth the fouler and more filthie euen so it fareth with thee when thou goest beyonde the boundes of thy vocation in medling with matters nothing appertaining to thee thou defilest thine owne conscience and giuest them occasion to purge themselues in asmuch as they grow more warie and aduised by thy wordes and thou with a troubled streame of a polluted conscience runnest on stil in thy furious course of vngodlinesse What moueth thee to intermedle in the matters of other men Art thou a iudge or magistrate appointed by auctoritie to see and ouersee others Thou must giue an account of thine owne stewardship not of another mans There is no marchant that will leaue his trade if hee peceaue but hee bee a looser thereby and thou canst no way applie thy selfe to any trade that thou shalt either gaine lesse or loose more than by medling with the liues and dealings of other men which bee not of thy charge Hast thou so little time to looke into thy selfe and so much to prie into other men Whereas thou shouldest bestow little time in seeing into other mens affaires and much in examining thine owne heart and conscience To looke so curiously vpon other men it is questionlesse an argument of an euill minde and of a guiltie conscience No man is more rigorous in fifting other men than hee that is most dissolute himselfe No man is so soone offended at the small offences of others as hee that hath many and monstrous defaultes himselfe And no man iudgeth so sinisterlie of his neighbour as hee which is moste loose aud licentious himselfe While the master is at home in his owne house all that bee in the house doe their duties there but when hee is from home they will doe what they list and take their pleasure So when reason keepeth the house and entereth into the conscience then bee all the cogitations senses and affections set in good order but if reason bee from home and wandereth abroad from house vnto house prying what others doe that while bee all the thoughtes of the minde idlely occupied and no good is done at all Be thou none examiner of other mens liues neither doe as the poore needie taylor dooth that maketh a garment for an other man and goeth himselfe naked If thy neighbour be nought he and not thou shall beare his burden Thou shalt finde for thy selfe enough to doe if thou wilt enter into the consideration of thine owne ife Why like Martha art thou troubled about many things One thing is necessary euen that thou deale with God casting of al other things if thou wilt liue in quiet It is a signe that thou louest God but litle if thou lookest curiously into the liues of other men If needes thou wilt bee an examiner of thy neighbours dealing goe to then seeing him in necessitie take thou compassion vpon his miserie yea helpe and succour him in his neede and to none other end bufie thy selfe about other men Loue all men and flie all vnnecessarie matters so shalt thou bee loued both of God and men and so shalt thou lead a ioyfull and merie life in this world CHAP. 24. One Christian must beare with the faults and infirmities of another BEare yee one anothers burthen saith the Apostle a Suffer your neighbor seeing hee must beare with you in many things Take not such offence at thy brethren neither so easily doe thou obserue their faults Thou hast enough to looke into thy selfe so that thou needest not to obserue curiously what another doth If all men be not of thy disposition blame them not therefore neither bee grieued For though very perfect thou wert